At the age of twelve,Keith Keenom began his personal journey with his
guitar. He emulated his older brother Stanley who was an outstanding guitar
player and taught Keith his finger picking style with a lot of his “hot licks.”
His roots are firmly planted with his family who were all accomplished
musicians, including his father and brothers. Some of the bands Keith has taken
part in include, “Shades of Country”, “The Grizzly Mountain Boy’s”, the
“Mountain Fever Band”, and the Gospel group “The Bunkhouse Boy’s”. He is an
accomplished musician who can play just about anything with a string, including
a guitar, fiddle, banjo, piano, & even a mandolin. Its Keith’s rich soulful
voice that was given directly from heaven above that really touches each
audience he plays for. Whether
it’s cowboy, country & western or bluegrass, he truly captures the essence of
each song he sings.

For over 40 years Dave Rainwater has enjoyed playing and
performing American bluegrass, country and folk music as a member in numerous
bands. Besides appearing with the Sierra Mountain Band, he also has produced
his own solo shows, “Catgut Strings Romancing the Fiddle” and “Musical Treasures
from the Gold Rush Era”. His self-proclaimed mission to ‘Change the world one
fiddle tune at a time’ is a journey to re-connect Americans to their
fascinating musical roots and historical folklore. A champion fiddler he
won first or second in over a third of the 50 competitions he was in, including
a blue ribbon at the prestigious Galax Fiddler’s Convention in Galax, Virginia
in 1993. In 2013 he was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the annual
California Auto Harp Gathering.

Elida Ickes plays the bass and guitar. She is in three and
sometimes four bands! She has played in bands all over Northern
California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Nevada. Originally from the
SF bay area, she now resides in Twain Harte. Elida was recently
nominated by the Northern California Bluegrass Society as Female Vocalist
of the Year and Bass Player of the Year. Her favorite pastimes are
being with her husband, children, grandchildren, having fun and playing music.
She also loves to quilt and travel.

Richard
T. “Dick” Todd’s affair with the 5-string banjo has spanned over a
half a century. He was first fascinated with the banjo when he
saw Dave Guard of the Kingston Trio in the early 1960’s. After forming
the “Dawson City String Trio” with two friends in Golden, Colorado,
playing mostly “Folk”, he then moved into “Bluegrass”
after seeing Doug Dillard at the “Exodus” in Denver.
Besides Earl Scruggs himself, Dick says Dillard was the greatest
influence in his picking style. The "Bear Creek Union Band” saw Dick
on banjo, with his former wife playing mandolin and vocals during the 80’s
and 90’s along with a few roles in “little theater” in Big Bear Lake,
California. After returning from living overseas in New
Zealand, he moved to Groveland and joined the "Grass Menagerie” in early
2000. By 2004, Dick and Richard Sholer, along with Julie Schmidt had
formed “Coyote Hill” where in the fall of 2007 they were the opening act
at the Strawberry Music Festival. Dick has now found a place with the
"Sierra Mountain Band" and has remarked that, after joining this
group, it felt like ‘coming home’.